Ketchikan Gateway Borough offices are in the White Cliff building, shown here in a 2013 file photo. (KRBD photo)
Ketchikan’s borough manager got a bonus, and Ketchikan’s borough clerk got a raise on Monday after favorable evaluations by Ketchikan’s borough assembly in closed session.
Ruben Duran, the borough manager, got a one-time $2,400 payout after a 5-1 vote. Borough Assembly Member Judith McQuerry praised the manager’s work performance.
“He’s doing a great job. We’re so lucky to have him and all of his experience and all of his skills, and we want to recognize that,” McQuerry said.
Duran got a nearly $18,000 raise last summer. He’s currently paid $160,000 under a new contract approved in June. Assembly Member Jeremy Bynum said he was happy with the borough manager’s work, but didn’t see the need for a bonus so soon.
“I don’t see the circumstances that have arisen that would prompt us to do something in addition to a contract that we had just signed,” Bynum said.
The other employee evaluated on Monday, Borough Clerk Kacie Paxton, received unanimous praise — and a nearly $19,000 raise — from the assembly. Borough Assembly Member A.J. Pierce said it was clear Paxton was dedicated to the borough.
“Kacie is really one in a lifetime when it comes to what she brings for our community,” Pierce said.
Paxton was named Alaska’s “Clerk of the Year” by the Alaska Association of Municipal Clerks in 2019.
Paxton’s raise passed unanimously, boosting her salary by 17% to $132,000 plus benefits.
